Relatives Gather at Fatal Jail Fire

Families and relatives gathered Saturday at the site of a fire that swept through a county jail in western North Carolina, killing eight inmates and injuring 13 people.

Investigators spent Saturday probing the cause of the blaze at the Mitchell County jail in Bakersville, a small town near the state border with Tennessee.

The Friday night blaze engulfed the two-story, brick building in dense smoke, officials said.

The cause of the fire was not known, although investigators believe it began accidentally in a storage area of the 47-year-old building, according to a statement from Mitchell County emergency communications.

Among the dead was an inmate on a weekend sentencing program and another man who was soon to be freed.

Mark and Melanie Thomas, parents of 20-year-old Mark Thomas, who was serving in a weekend sentencing program for a drinking-related offense, clutched each other on a street near the jail.

“I don’t know why they all had to die,” said a weeping Melanie Thomas. “He would get depressed to have to go to jail on the weekends, but he said it was for his own good.”

Family and friends mourned Edmond Banks, 46, who had 21 days left before finishing his sentence.

“From what we heard, they did all they could do,” said a family friend, Wanda Yelton, of rescue efforts.

But Banks’ sister, Diane Farley, blamed authorities for not renovating the aging building.

“The place was not fit for a dog,” Farley said, tears rolling down her face. “They should have been spending time on rebuilding the jail instead of building a new courthouse.”